Leave canned goods by the mailbox Saturday for USPS food drive

Letter carriers across the Husker State and the nation are asking you to plan ahead for the 20th annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive, which will take place on Saturday, May 12th.

Letter carrier Jim Sanner says they will be canvassing Nebraska neighborhoods looking for donations of non-perishable food items for the local food pantry.

Sanner says in his area they’ll be picking up the food throughout the day.

In addition to letter carriers like himself, some cities will be receiving a helping hand with volunteers from the United Way and the local food pantry driving by and picking up your donations.

He says the volunteers will be out by 9 AM, so if your delivery is later in the day, you can put the food out early. Sanner says it’s easy to donate any non-perishable food items.

“If you’re what we call a city route…if you could just place donations at or around the mailbox, that’s perfectly fine,” Sanner says. For rural routes, you can leave the food in or on the mailbox, or if you have a large amount of food, put it at the base of the mailbox.

Sanner asks that everyone do a quick check to be sure that none of the food items are expired.

“Over the years we’ve taken a number of items that are maybe beyond expiration dates, and the food pantry by regulation cannot distribute (expired food) to people, nor would they want to,” Sanner says.

He says the expired food has to be thrown out. For more information on the May 12th food drive, contact your local post office, or log onto: www.HelpStampOutHunger.com.